Computer telephony integration (cti) complete healthcare contact center

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and products enable a healthcare facility to process incoming communications.

CROSS REFERENCE

This application relates to applicants' co-pending application entitled“Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) Complete Customer Contact Center,”(Attorney Docket 02-BS059/BS02529) filed simultaneously herewith and ofwhich the “Brief Summary of the Invention” and “Detailed Description ofthe Invention” sections are incorporated herein by this reference.

This application relates to applicants' co-pending application entitled“Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) Complete Hospitality ContactCenter,” (Attorney Docket 02-BS063/BS02526) filed simultaneouslyherewith and of which the “Brief Summary of the Invention” and “DetailedDescription of the Invention” sections are incorporated herein by thisreference.

NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT PROTECTION

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document and its figurescontain material subject to copyright protection. The copyright ownerhas no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patentdocument or the patent disclosure, but the copyright owner otherwisereserves all copyrights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention generally relates to computer networks and to telephony.More particularly, this invention is directed to methods and systems formore efficient and effective communication and processing of incomingcommunications and other electronic data in a call management andcontact center system for a healthcare center.

2. Description of the Related Art

Healthcare centers (physician's offices, hospitals, clinics, labs,diagnostic centers, medical record repositories, insurers, patients,pharmaceutical and surgical suppliers, and/or other healthcare vendors)commonly service patients through call management and contact centers(herein after referred to as a “call center”). These call centers arestaffed with support agents, interactive voice response recordings,and/or information systems to process patient inquiries across numerouscommunications devices and network infrastructures. Each week, hundreds,if not thousands or more, of incoming communications (including calls,emails, faxes, letters, and other communications) and associated dataare received, accessed, and/or managed by the call center. The agent (oran automated call forwarding system) may forward/transfer the incomingcommunications and/or associated data to an extension of a staff memberwho can respond to the patient. Alternatively, the agent (or anautomated call forwarding system) may forward/transfer the incomingcommunications and/or associated data to an extension of a patient toreceive and/or to respond to the incoming communication (and associateddata). The extension is typically associated with a physical location ofa phone, such as a phone in the staff member's office or a particularlocation in a building. Oftentimes, the staff member (or the patient) isunavailable to receive the incoming communication and/or associated databecause the staff member is away from the phone or because the phonecannot display or otherwise provide the associated data. For example, ifthe staff member is a doctor working in a large hospital, the doctor maybe located at numerous locations throughout the day, such as in-servicepatient floors for rounds and/or emergencies, conference rooms formeetings, and clinic rooms for appointments/consultation. Thus, thedoctor travels to multiple locations at different times throughout theday as inpatient service loads, meeting times, clinic schedule changes,and other changes make it difficult to have a predictable schedule andlocation. While most doctors carry paging devices, these paging devicestend to have limited service areas that restrict communications outsideof a geographic area and limited functionality that restricts anincoming communication to a short text message such as a phone number.These paging devices also do not transmit communications and/or databack to the call center such as confirmations that the incomingcommunication was reviewed, location of the paging device (e.g., pagingdevice of Dr. Roberts is located on 3rd floor/ICU section of Hawthornbuilding), and so on. Still further, most business people today tend tocarry multiple communications devices, such as a pager, personal digitalassistant (PDA), and cell phone. However, the call center of thehealthcare center does not leverage the multiple communications devicesof the staff member (and/or patient) because each of thesecommunications devices is customized in terms of software, hardware, andnetwork configuration. For example, the PDA and the cell phone havedifferent software applications, data processing, storage, management,and communications systems.

As discussed above, one of the biggest barriers facing a call center islocating and accessing multiple communications devices utilized by thestaff (and/or the patients) of the healthcare center. In addition, theincoming communications and associated data of the call center must bein a format that can easily be exchanged or otherwise shared with eachcommunications device. For example, if the agent wants to share contactinformation (e.g., name, phone numbers, addresses, etc.) with a cellphone and a pager of a staff member, then the agent typically must enterthis information twice—once on a platform communicating with the cellphone and once on a platform communicating with the pager. Anotherbarrier is providing the incoming communication and/or associated datain a standardized or otherwise compatible data format, depending onfunctionality limitations of the communications device, so that eachcommunications device has efficient and effective access to theinformation. For example, conventional wireless phones have limitedfunctionality compared with personal computers (PC). Typically, wirelesstelephones provide limited contact information, such as a telephonelisting by name rather than full address books and/or calendars.Additionally, conventional wireless telephones are unable to runapplication/software packages and may have limited capabilities fortransmitting, receiving, and displaying video data.

In addition to the challenges of implementing a successful contactcenter that enables improved access to staff, patients, and or data,most healthcare centers must also comply with a variety of federal,state, local and other rules that protect the privacy and security ofhealthcare information associated with a patient. For example, theHealth Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), signed intolaw by President Clinton on Aug. 21, 1996 (Pub. L. 104-191, 110 Stat.1936), covers health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, and healthcareproviders who conduct certain financial and administrative transactions(e.g., electronic billing and funds transfers) electronically. Providers(e.g., physicians, hospitals, etc.) and health plans are required togive patients a clear written explanation of how a covered entity mayuse and disclose a patient's healthcare information. Further, healthcareproviders are required to obtain patient consent before sharinginformation for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations. Inaddition, HIPPA also requires that a provider adopt and implementprivacy procedures to ensure the privacy and security of the healthcareinformation.

To further complicate operations of the call center, most healthcarecenters must work with several vendors who each provide only a portionof the required call management and contact center system. Further,these healthcare centers often do not have the technical staff todesign, select, and integrate network(s), hardware and equipment,software, and/or develop customized applications. Even after thehealthcare center has purchased the required components, they havedifficulty integrating these components into existing infrastructures,and most often, end up with several call centers that do not provideaccess to information and/or to staff (and/or patients) across theentire enterprise. As a result, healthcare centers limp along with manydifferent, non-integrated communications networks and call centersystems.

Accordingly, healthcare centers need integrated call management andcontact center systems and methods that can provide immediate access toresources (e.g., staff and data) and patients, improve operatorproductivity, increase patient satisfaction, and control costs. Theintegrated call management and contact center systems and methods mustsupport various communications infrastructures to capitalize on emergingcommunications devices such as, for example, interactive pagers, on-sitepagers, wireless phones, personal computers, etc. Consequently, theintegrated call management and contact center systems and methods shouldenable sharing, transferring, and/or accessing staff, data, and/orpatients over various communications devices while also complying withinformation system requirements of the healthcare center, such assecurity/privacy and fail-safe requirements.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The aforementioned problems and others are solved by a dynamic computertelephony integration (CTI) complete healthcare contact center(hereinafter referred to as the “dynamic healthcare contact center”).The dynamic healthcare contact center (DHCCC) comprises systems andmethods that leverage the assets of a healthcare center's communicationssystems including internal telecommunications networks, informationsystems, data networks, and applications, of public telecommunicationsnetworks (e.g., public switched telephone network (PSTN) or mobiletelecommunications switching office (MTSO)), of public data networks(e.g., Internet), and/or of various communications devices of a staffmember and/or a patient in order to facilitate improved access, sharing,notification, and/or management of incoming calls and associated data ofthe healthcare's call center. Some advantages of the dynamic healthcarecontact center include faster access to patients, faster access to staffand data, ability to communicate incoming calls and data to staff(and/or a patient) over a variety of communications devices, lessoperator/agent intervention, compliance with security, privacy, and /orauthentication requirements, and increased emergency recoverycapabilities.

An embodiment of this invention describes a computer telephonyintegration (CTI) system having a call management system for connectinga plurality of agent stations with at least one telephone line.Typically, the agent station includes a personal computer and/or atelephone that the agent uses to answer, respond to, and/or transferincoming communications (including associated data) to a call center.The system includes detection means for detecting the incomingcommunication, an input/output processor to input and to output dataassociated with the incoming communication, a communications interfacefor communicating the incoming communication and/or associated data witha communications device associated with a designated party (e.g., staffand/or patient) of the call center, a memory device for storing thedata, a processor communicating with the memory device, and a healthcarecall center application for managing the communications profile. Thehealthcare call center also includes encryption (and decryption) meansfor securing communications of the incoming communication and/or thedata within the call management system. The processor selects datastored in the memory device based upon the communications profile, andtypically includes information about (1) patient data associated withthe incoming communication, (2) data associated with the designatedparty, including data associated with authentication of the designatedparty, (3) data associated with at least one of services, products, andbusiness operations affiliated with the healthcare call center, (4) dataassociated with network configuration, (5) data associated with aconfiguration profile of the communications device, and (6) dataassociated with communications systems of the healthcare call center.Further, the communications interface may include means for providingmessaging delivery means for delivering and confirming receipt/review ofthe incoming communication (including associated data). In variousembodiments, the communications device may be a transmitter, atelephone, an intercom communications device, a personal computer, awireless communications device, an on-site pager, a mobile phone, awireless phone, a WAP phone, an IP phone, a satellite phone, a computer,a modem, a pager, a digital music device, a digital recording device, apersonal digital assistant, an interactive television, a digital signalprocessor, a Global Positioning System device, and other similarcommunications devices.

In another embodiment, the system further includes status means forcommunicating a status of the communications device associated with thedesignated party of the call center to the call center application.Typically, the status provides information about availability and/orlocation of the designated party, availability and/or location of thecommunications device, messaging delivery capabilities of thecommunications device, and/or messaging delivery confirmation to thecommunications device. Further, the system may include status processingmeans that use the status to provide routing instructions to thecommunications interface for connecting the incoming call and/orassociated data with the communications device.

In another embodiment, the system further includes an interactivepatient services system for managing patient services provided to apatient, such as, for example, services related to patient services,entertainment services, cafeteria services, travel services, photostudio services, and other healthcare center services. In addition, thesystem may also include a patient signaling personal article that iscapable of transmitting signals to a transmitter communicating with thehealthcare call center. The patient signaling personal article isassociated with the patient so that the transmitted signals can be usedto locate the patient and provide availability data and/or location dataof the patient.

Another embodiment describes a method for communicating an incomingcommunication to a call management system or other similar system (e.g.,private branch exchange (PBX)) that connects at least one agent stationwith at least one telephone line, associating a communications profilewith the incoming communication, accessing a communications networkand/or an interactive patient services system of the call center todetermine a status, and based upon the status, communicating theincoming communication and/or data to the communications device of adesignated party (e.g., a staff member and/or a patient). Similar toabove, the status provides information about availability and/orlocation of the designated party, availability and/or location of thecommunications device, messaging delivery capabilities of thecommunications device, and/or messaging delivery confirmation to thecommunications device. Further, the system may include status processingmeans that use the status to provide routing instructions to thecommunications interface for connecting the incoming call and/orassociated data with the communications device.

Still, a further embodiment describes a network of interconnectedcommunications devices associated with a call center, a rule-basedapplication DataServer for managing the exchange of an incomingcommunication and/or associated data between an agent station of thecall center and a communications device of a designated party (a staffmember and/or a patient) affiliated with the call center, and anapplication program installed in the agent station. According to thisembodiment, the application program allows an agent to manage acommunications profile associated with (1) patient data associated withthe incoming communication, (2) data associated with the designatedparty, including data associated with authentication of the designatedparty, (3) data associated with at least one of services, products, andbusiness operations affiliated with a call center, (4) data associatedwith network configuration, (5) data associated with a configurationprofile of a communications device associated with the designated partyof the call center, and (6) data associated with communications systemsof the call center.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other embodiments, objects, uses, advantages, and novelfeatures of this invention are more clearly understood by reference tothe following description taken in connection with the accompanyingfigures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing of an exemplary dynamic healthcarecontact center (DHCCC) application operating in an agent stationaccording to an embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic showing an exemplary operating environment for adynamic healthcare contact center system that includes means fordetermining a status of a designated party and communicating with thedesignated party over a telephone and/or an intercom station accordingto an embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic showing an exemplary operating environment for adynamic healthcare contact center system that includes means fordetermining a status of a designated party and communicating with thedesignated party over a personal computer and/or an intercom stationaccording to another embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic showing an exemplary operating environment for adynamic healthcare contact center system that includes several patientcommunications devices for transceiving an incoming communicationaccording to another embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic showing an exemplary operating environment for adynamic healthcare contact center system that includes a plurality ofintercom stations for determining a status and communicating with aplurality of designated parties according to another embodiment of thisinvention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic showing an exemplary operating environment for adynamic healthcare contact center system that includes another staffmember (and/or patient) utilizing an intercom station for determining astatus and communicating an internal communication with a designatedparty according to another embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic showing an exemplary operating environment for adynamic healthcare contact center system that includes means fordetermining a status of a designated party having an on-site pagingdevice according to another embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic showing an exemplary operating environment for adynamic healthcare contact center system that includes means fordetermining a status of a designated party and communicating with thedesignated party through an internal communications interface or a datanetwork gateway to a wireless communications device according to anotherembodiment of this invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic showing an exemplary operating environment for adynamic healthcare contact center system that includes means fordetermining a status of a designated party and communicating with thedesignated party through an internal communications interface or atelecommunications network to a wireless communications device accordingto another embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 10 is a schematic showing an exemplary operating environment for adynamic healthcare contact center system that includes means fordetermining a status of a designated party and communicating with thedesignated party through an internal communications interface or atelecommunications network to alternate wireless communications deviceaccording to another embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic showing another exemplary operating environmentwith telecommunications and data networks for a dynamic healthcarecontact center system that includes means for determining a status of adesignated party and communicating with the designated party through aninternal communications interface or a telecommunications network toanother alternate wireless communications device according to anembodiment of this invention;

FIG. 12 is a schematic showing another exemplary operating environmentof a dynamic healthcare contact center system that includes an interfacewith a interactive patient services system for determining a status of adesignated party and communicating with the designated party accordingto an embodiment of this invention; and

FIG. 13 is a schematic of an exemplary operating environment of adynamic healthcare contact center system communicating with othersystems over a telecommunications and/or data network.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This invention now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodimentsare shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many differentforms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments setforth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that thisdisclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey thescope of the invention to those of ordinary skill in the art. Moreover,all statements herein reciting embodiments of the invention, as well asspecific examples thereof, are intended to encompass both structural andfunctional equivalents thereof. Additionally, it is intended that suchequivalents include both currently known equivalents as well asequivalents developed in the future (i.e., any elements developed thatperform the same function, regardless of structure).

Thus, for example, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill inthe art that the diagrams, schematics, illustrations, and the likerepresent conceptual views or processes illustrating systems and methodsembodying this invention. The functions of the various elements shown inthe figures may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware aswell as hardware capable of executing associated software. Similarly,any switches shown in the figures are conceptual only. Their functionmay be carried out through the operation of program logic, throughdedicated logic, through the interaction of program control anddedicated logic, or even manually, the particular technique beingselectable by the entity implementing this invention. Those of ordinaryskill in the art further understand that the exemplary hardware,software, processes, methods, and/or operating systems described hereinare for illustrative purposes and, thus, are not intended to be limitedto any particular named manufacturer.

The aforementioned problems and others are solved by a dynamic computertelephony integration (CTI) complete healthcare contact center(hereinafter referred to as the “dynamic healthcare contact center”).The dynamic healthcare contact center (DHCCC) comprises systems andmethods that leverage the assets of a healthcare center's communicationssystems including internal telecommunications networks, informationsystems, data networks, and applications, of public telecommunicationsnetworks (e.g., public switched telephone network (PSTN) or mobiletelecommunications switching office (MTSO)), of public data networks(e.g., Internet), and/or of various communications devices of a staffmember and/or a patient in order to facilitate improved access, sharing,notification, and/or management of incoming calls and associated data ofthe healthcare's call center. Some advantages of the dynamic healthcarecontact center include faster access to patients, faster access to staffand data, ability to communicate incoming calls and data to staff(and/or a patient) over a variety of communications devices, lessoperator/agent intervention, and increased emergency recoverycapabilities. As used herein, the term “data” includes electronicinformation, such as information and/or files stored in a database,electronic messages such as email, notifications, replies, and/or othermeans of communicating electronic information between or among thehealthcare's communications system (including the agent station), thepublic telecommunications networks, the public data networks, and/or ofvarious communications devices of a designated party.

Referring now to the figures, FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing aDynamic Healthcare Contact Center (DHCCC) Application 110 residing in anagent station 100. The DHCCC Application 110 operates within a systemmemory device. The DHCCC Application 110, for example, is shown residingin a memory subsystem 12. The DHCCC Application 110, however, could alsoreside in flash memory 14 and/or in a peripheral storage device, such asstorage device 40 associated with a DHCCC DataServer 42. The agentstation 100 also has one or more central processors 20 executing anoperating system. The operating system, as is well known, has a set ofinstructions that control the internal functions of the agent station100. A system bus 22 communicates signals, such as data signals, controlsignals, and address signals, between the central processors 20 and asystem controller 24 (typically called a “Northbridge”). The systemcontroller 24 provides a bridging function between the one or morecentral processors 20, a graphics subsystem 26, the memory subsystem 12,and a PCI (Peripheral Controller Interface) bus 28. The PCI bus 28 iscontrolled by a Peripheral Bus Controller 30. The Peripheral BusController 30 (typically called a “Southbridge”) is an integratedcircuit that serves as an input/output hub for various peripheral ports.These peripheral ports could include, for example, a keyboard port 32, amouse port 34, a serial port 36 and/or a parallel port 38. Additionally,these peripheral ports would allow the agent station to communicate witha variety of communications devices through ports 54 (such as SCSI orEthernet), Wireless Transceiver 52 (using the IEEE Wireless standard802.11 and Infrared), and Wired Comm Device Port 50 (such as modem V90+and compact flash slots). The Peripheral Bus Controller 30 could alsoinclude an audio subsystem 35. Additionally, the agent station mayinclude a network server 44 operating with a network browser 46. TheDHCCC DataServer 42, the network server 44, and the network browser 46may be stand alone or integrated components. Still further, the agentstation 100 may include a power source 60, such as a rechargeablebattery to provide power and allow the agent station 100 to be portable.The power source 60 may additionally or alternatively include analternating current (AC) power source or power converter.

The processor 20 is typically a microprocessor. Advanced Micro Devices,Inc., for example, manufactures a full line of microprocessors, such asthe ATHLON™ (ATHLON™ is a trademark of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., OneAMD Place, P.O. Box 3453, Sunnyvale, Calif. 94088-3453, 408.732.2400,800.538.8450, www.amd.com). Sun Microsystems also designs andmanufactures microprocessors (Sun Microsystems, Inc., 901 San AntonioRoad, Palo Alto Calif. 94303, www.sun.com). The Intel Corporationmanufactures microprocessors (Intel Corporation, 2200 Mission CollegeBlvd., Santa Clara, Calif. 95052-8119, 408.765.8080, www.intel.com).Other manufacturers also offer microprocessors. Such other manufacturersinclude Motorola, Inc. (1303 East Algonquin Road, P.O. Box A3309Schaumburg, Ill. 60196, www.Motorola.com), International BusinessMachines Corp. (New Orchard Road, Armonk, N.Y. 10504, (914) 499-1900,www.ibm.com), and Transmeta Corp. (3940 Freedom Circle, Santa Clara,Calif. 95054, www.transmeta.com).

The preferred operating system is a LINUX® or a RED HAT® LINUX-basedsystem (LINUX® is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds and RED HAT®is a registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc., Research Triangle Park,N.C., 1-888-733-4281, www.redhat.com). Other operating systems, however,may be suitable. Such other operating systems would include aUNIX®-based system (UNIX® is a registered trademark of The Open Group,44 Montgomery Street, Suite 960, San Francisco, Calif. 94104,415.374.8280, www.opengroup.org). and Mac® OS (Mac® is a registeredtrademark of Apple Computer, Inc., 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, Calif.95014, 408.996.1010, www.apple.com). Another operating system wouldinclude DOS-based systems. WINDOWS® and WINDOWS NT® are common examplesof DOS-based systems (WINDOWS® and WINDOWS NT® are registered trademarksof Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond Wash. 98052-6399,425.882.8080, www.Microsoft.com).

The system memory device (shown as memory subsystem 12, flash memory 14,or peripheral storage device 40) may also contain one or moreapplication programs. For example, an application program may cooperatewith the operating system and with a video display unit (via the serialport 36 and/or the parallel port 38) to provide a Graphical UserInterface (GUI) display for the DHCCC Application 110 (e.g., GUIdisplays for a staff and/or patient directory, a work profile of a staffmember, a patient profile of a healthcare patient, a messaging screenfor inputting a message and/or associated data, and a communicationsprofile associated with the work profile, patient profiles, status,and/or business requirements). The GUI typically includes a combinationof signals communicated along the keyboard port 32 and the mouse port34. The GUI provides a convenient visual and/or audible interface withthe user of the agent station 100. As is apparent to those of ordinaryskill in the art, the selection and arrangement of the DHCCC Application110 may be programmed over a variety of alternate mediums, such as, forexample, a voice-activated menu prompt.

Typically, the DHCCC Application 110 is running on the workstation 100when the incoming communication (including communications from externalcommunications systems as well as communications initiated within thehealthcare center) is detected at the call management system (or othersimilar system) by an automated call management and/or call routingsystem. The incoming communication is commonly an incoming telephonecall associated with data (using responses input by an individual and/orusing the address of the incoming communication) that triggers the DHCCCDataServer 42 to provide a communications profile of associated dataalong with the incoming communication to the workstation 100 (similar todecoding an ICLID signal for telecommunication special service featuresoffered by telecommunication service providers). Alternatively, theincoming communication may be an electronic message (e.g., email),facsimiles, and/or other communications. The DHCCC Application 110allows an agent (or other authorized staff) of a call center to manageservices provided by the dynamic healthcare contact center, such as: (1)accessing a staff directory including work profiles that provideup-to-date detailed information about the staff member, such as lookingup the name of the staff member, a status of the staff member, and otherinformation of the staff member (e.g., job title, job description,business department, business address, office hours, business associatessuch as secretaries, communications devices including personallyowned/operated and employer affiliated, and routing addresses of thecommunications devices such as radio frequency identifiers, service nodeaddresses, IP addresses, email addresses, and/or other electronicaddress information); (2) accessing a patient directory includingpatient profiles that provide up-to-date detailed information about thepatient, such as looking up the name and/or room of the patient, astatus of the patient, communications devices affiliated with a patient,routing addresses of the communications devices such as radio frequencyidentifiers, service node addresses, IP addresses, email addresses,and/or other electronic address information, and other informationassociated with the patient, such as information stored in aninteractive patient system (as shown in reference numeral 1210 of FIG.12) including preferences for wake-up times, maid service, room service,entertainment services, schedules and/or itineraries, names of otherparties staying in the room of the patient, financial information; (3)messaging options, such as taking, saving (e.g., email, voicemail,journal, etc.), retrieving, distributing (e.g., routing to one or moredesignated parties, delivery options including dates, times, priorities,etc.), and modifying a message; (4) issuing a query to determine thestatus of the designated party (e.g., staff member or patient); (5)customizing the communications profile associated with DHCCC DataServer42 including an access agent, a messaging agent, and a healthcare centerrequirements agent; (6) customizing presentation, features, and/ormanagement of the incoming communication and/or associated data; and (7)controlling communications outside of the healthcare's communicationssystem, such as communications with a telecommunications network and/ora data network. For example, the agent (or the automatic calldistributor using response rules received from an interactive responsesystem) may interact with the Access Agent to control up-to-date staffand/or patient directories, search for the designated party, use thework profile, the patient profile, and/or the communications profile tolaunch a query to determine the status, receive the status, andcommunicate the status to a Messaging Agent to manage communicationswith the designated party.

In an embodiment, the DHCCC DataServer 42 has the ability to communicatewith various networks, including internal and externaltelecommunications and/or data networks using appropriate protocols,such as standard transmission control protocol and Internet protocol(TCP/IP). The communications profiles stored by the DHCCC DataServer 42provide increased security by allowing the healthcare center tointernally control electronic data, utilize existing databases to add,delete, or otherwise change electronic data, and control how thehealthcare's communications system interacts with non-proprietarynetworks and communications devices, such as controlling routinginstructions. Thus, DHCCC DataServer 42 functions as a computer server,database, and processor and is dedicated to managing DHCCC activity overthe healthcare's proprietary and non-proprietary networks.

The DHCCC Application 110 also allows the agent (or another authorizedstaff member) to control access, sharing, notification, routing,security, management, and/or additional processing of incomingcommunications and associated data. For example, DHCCC Application 110allows the agent to control how the associated data is processed intothe communications system of the healthcare center including (i) sendingthe data to a local storage device (such as local file server 216 shownin FIG. 1), or alternatively, to a remote storage device (such as a fileserver associated a the telecommunications service provider), (ii)archiving the data, (iii) encrypting the data, (iv) copying the data,and (v) associating the data with the communications profile. The DHCCCApplication 110 may be downloaded from telecommunications network 204,data network 230, or provided on a storage media (e.g., diskette,CD-ROM, or installed by the computer system manufacturer) to install onthe agent workstation 100 to enable, disable, and further control avariety of DHCCC Services. Still further, the DHCCC Application 110allows the agent (or other authorized staff) to customize presentationfeatures, such as splitting a workstation screen into two viewing areasand presenting a video display of the incoming communication in oneportion and presenting information associated with the Access Agent(e.g., staff directory) in the second portion.

FIG. 2 is a schematic showing an exemplary operating environment for adynamic healthcare contact center (DHCCC) 200. The DHCCC 200 includes amobile telephone 202, a telecommunications network 204, a switch 206, acall management system 208, at least one telephone/voice workstation210, at least one modem 212, at least one agent workstation 100, adynamic healthcare contact center application 110, a wide area network214, at least one file server 216, a firewall 218, a local area network220, a remote call management system 228, a data network 230, a remotepersonal computer 235, a communications interface 240, a transceiver245, a healthcare center 250, an intercom station 260, a designatedparty 262, an affiliated telephone 264, and a personal identificationtransmitter 266. The intercom station 260 is similar to traditionalintercom systems; however, intercom station 260 may further include anaudio subsystem (not shown) for broadcasting and receiving audiomessages, a video subsystem (not shown), typically a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), for displaying images, a keyboard and/or mouse forinputting and/or otherwise selecting commands and/or data, and aninternal transceiver (not shown) for receiving signals from personalidentification transmitter 266 and for sending signals to either thetransceiver 245 or to the communications interface 240 so that thedesignated party 262 can be located within the healthcare center 250.

Typically, an individual (e.g., potential patient, current patient,supplier, business acquaintance, etc.) uses mobile phone 202 to place acall routed through telecommunication network 204 and switch 206 to thecall management system 208 (to the called telephone number of the callcenter). Alternatively, the individual may use the personal computer 235to gain access to the DHCCC 200 through data network 230. If so,firewall 218 screens and routes the incoming communication over the WAN214. The incoming communication (e.g., incoming call) is usuallydetected by an interactive response system (or similar system forcommunications initiated by personal computer 235) that providesintelligent routing of the call. For example, the individual may hear aprerecorded message prompting the individual to make an initial routingselection, such as, for example “Press 1 to place an order,” “Press 2 tospeak with a patient service representative,” “Press 3 for directions,”“If you know the extension of the party (i.e., the designated party),please press * and the party's four digit extension,” and so on. Thus,the incoming communication may be initially routed to an appropriateagent (including agents connected with remote call management system228) or to the extension of the designated party 262 (as describedlater, this extension may also be associated with a status of thedesignated party and the incoming communication may be further routedbased on the status to the communications device). If the incomingcommunication is routed to the agent, then the call may be sent to thetelephone/voice workstation 210 and/or through modem 212 to agentworkstation 100. Further, the incoming communication and initial routinginstructions provide information about the call to the telephone/voiceworkstation 210 and/or the agent workstation 100. For example, if thecalling telephone number of the individual is decoded and/or if theindividual provides a room number or another identifier, such as anaccount number, in response to an inquiry from the automated answeringsystem (or if the account number is associated with other informationlike the ICLID signal of the calling number), then when the agentworkstation 100 receives the incoming communication, the DHCCCApplication 110 may automatically associate, retrieve, and pull upassociated information (associated using responses to the interactiveresponse system and/or ICLID signal) with the incoming call. After theagent answers the incoming call, the agent may gather additionalinformation from the individual, associate other data, identify thedesignated party 262 who can further handle the individual's needs,determine a status of the designated party 262, and based upon anavailable status, transfer the incoming communication and associateddata to an appropriate communications device, such as the workstationintercom 260 or the work telephone 264. If the status is unavailable,then the agent may alternatively route the incoming communication and/orassociated data to a messaging system, such as voicemail or pager numbermessaging.

The agent and/or the automated answering system determines the status ofthe designated party 262 by associating availability data of thedesignated party 262, location data of the designated party 262,availability data of the communications device, location data of thecommunications device, messaging delivery capability data of thecommunications device, and/or messaging delivery confirmation data withthe communications device. Typically, the designated party 262 programsin protocols or rules related to his/her availability, location, andcommunications device. For example, the designated party 262 may inputhis/her work schedule including meetings, breaks, office hours and soon. Similarly, the designated party 262 may input specific times ofunavailability (e.g., do not disturb), such as, for example, when asurgeon is operating on a patient during a scheduled surgery. Thelocation data of the designated party 262 and/or the communicationsdevice may also be used to determine a status of the designated party262. In an embodiment, the designated party 262 wears a radio frequency(RF) transmitter 264 (or other means for identifying a location, suchas, for example, a GPS transceiver or alternate location means) thattransmits co-ordinates to nearby intercom station 260 in communicationwith transceiver 245 or that transmits co-ordinates directly totransceiver 245. The DHCCC Application 110 maps the co-ordinates toassociate a location with the business facility 250 (e.g., 3^(rd) floorHawthorn Building, hallway section 4B). The location data may be furtherassociated with the availability data of the designated party 262 todetermine the status, such as whether the designated party 262 isavailable to receive the incoming communication. For example, if thedesignated party is located in or proximate to a restroom, then thestatus of the designated party 262 is unavailable.

The availability data of the communications device may also be used todetermine the status. For example, if the telephone 264 is off-hook,then the telephone 264 may be unavailable to receive the incomingcommunication and/or associated data. The telephone 264 may representthe extension of designated party 262 or, alternatively, telephone 264may be associated with the designated party 262 through thecommunications profile and/or through determining the location of thedesignated party 262 and nearby facility communications devices (e.g.,designated party is on 3^(rd) floor Hawthorn building, section 4B andproximate communications devices to area 4B include the intercom 260 insection 4B and the telephone 264 in section 4C). In addition, thelocation of the communications device may be used to determine thestatus. For example, telephone 264 may be located in a conference roomwith an ongoing meeting, and therefore, the telephone 264 would beunavailable. Still further, the messaging delivery capability of thecommunications device may be used to determine the status. For example,if the intercom station 260 has the means to display video images andtext files, then the intercom station 260 would be available to receiveassociated video and files with the incoming communication. Finally,messaging delivery confirmation capabilities of the communicationsdevice may be used to determine the status. For example, if thetelephone 260 is capable of providing a dual tone multi frequencysignal, then the telephone 260 would be available to transmit aconfirmation signal from the designated party 262 indicating that theincoming communications and/or associated data (including messages) hasbeen delivered and received by the designated party.

The incoming communication and/or associated data may include voice,video, text, and/or other electronic data that is routed over the widearea network 214 through the communications interface 240 (or alternatecommunications means as shown in FIGS. 8-11) to the availablecommunications device (e.g., the intercom station 260 and/or telephone264). The communications interface 240 not only communicates theincoming communication and/or associated data, but also formats and/orotherwise configures the incoming communication and/or associated data(including messages transcribed by an agent) for the communicationsdevice. For example, the data stored on file server 216 may need to beconverted from a data format compatible with the agent station 100(and/or for storage on the file server 216) to another data formatcompatible with the communications device. The data formats may includeprinted text formats, a voice data formats, a video data formats, a dualtone multi-frequency data formats, and a digital data format (e.g.,ASCII). In addition, the communications interface 240 may furtherinclude message delivery means that provide confirmation, such as asymbol or short message, that the communications device of thedesignated party 262 has received the incoming communication and/orassociated data. Thus, the communications interface 240 advises an agentwhen there is a problem or error communicating the incomingcommunication (including associated data) with the communicationsdevice. If there is a problem or error, then the agent may select analternate communications device (if the status is available) tocommunicate the incoming communication.

FIG. 3 illustrates a dynamic healthcare contact center (DHCCC) 300similar to the DHCCC 200 disclosed in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 further includes anaffiliated computer workstation 302 coupled with the proprietary networkof the communications system through communications interface 240.According to this embodiment, the agent (or a router of the automatedanswering system) receives the incoming communication and any associateddata at his/her workstation 100, interacts with the individual,determines the status of the designated party 262, associates the statuswith the communications profile to select the nearby affiliated computerworkstation 302, and provides the incoming communication and/orassociated data to the workstation 302 for the designated party 262 toaccess. As discussed above, the communications interface 240 ensuresthat the incoming communication and/or associated data are formattedand/or otherwise configured for the workstation 302. Further, theincoming communication and/or associated data routed to workstation 302may be encrypted or otherwise secured by the DHCCC application 110 (oralternatively by a security application (not shown) interfaced with thecommunications interface 240) so that only the designated party 262 hasaccess. Further, workstation 302 may include means for authenticatingthe designated party, such as a biometrics sensor 304. The biometricssensor 304 may provide security features that prevent unauthorizedparties from exploiting the incoming communication and/or associateddata. The biometrics sensor 304 could include a fingerprint ID device,retina recognition device and software, DNA/RNA recognition device andsoftware, facial recognition device and software, speech recognitiondevice and software, and/or scent recognition device and software. Inorder to authenticate the designated party 262, the information inputinto the biometrics sensor (or other authentication means, such as apassword) would be compared with data associated with the designatedparty in the communications profile.

FIG. 4 illustrates a dynamic healthcare contact center (DHCCC) 400similar to the DHCCC 300 disclosed in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 further includes aPOTS phone 402 and a personal digital assistant 404 to illustrate thatthe individual may use other wired and wireless communications devicesto gain access to the call management 208 through telecommunicationsnetwork 204.

FIG. 5 illustrates a dynamic healthcare contact center (DHCCC) 500similar to the DHCCC 300 disclosed in FIG. 3. However, FIG. 5 furtherincludes a plurality of intercom stations 260 and a plurality ofdesignated parties 262. According to this embodiment, the agent (or arouter of the automated answering system) receives the incomingcommunication and any associated data at his/her workstation 100,interacts with the individual to identify multiple designated parties262, determines the status of each of the designated parties 262,associates each status with one or more communications profiles toselect a nearby intercom station 260 for each designated party 262, andprovides the incoming communication and/or associated data to eachintercom station 260 for each designated party 262 to access. Theintercom stations 260 are connected and associated so that the incomingcommunication and responses to the incoming communication are sharedwith the group of designated parties 262. Accordingly, this conferencefeature determines the status of each designated party 262 in a groupand simultaneously provides the incoming communications and responsesfrom each available communications device to the group. While not shown,each designated party 262 of the group could be accessed throughalternate available communications devices (such as telephone 260 shownin FIG. 2, personal computer 302 shown in FIG. 3, pager 810, personaldigital assistant (PDA) 812, interactive pager 814, and mobile phone 816shown in FIG. 8, MP3 1002, digital signal processor 1004, modem 1006,and GPS 1008 shown in FIG. 10, and interactive television 1108 shown inFIG. 11). As discussed above, the communications interface ensures thatthe incoming communication and/or associated data are formatted and/orotherwise configured for each communications device.

FIG. 6 illustrates a dynamic healthcare contact center 600 similar tothe DHCCC 500 of FIG. 5. However, according to the embodiment in FIG. 6,a staff member 602 initiates the incoming communication to the callcenter through intercom station 260. The agent (or automated answeringsystem) receives the incoming communication and any associated data athis/her workstation 100, interacts with the staff member 602 to identifydesignated party 262, determines the status of the designated party 262,associates the status with the communications profile to select a nearbyintercom station 260, and provides the incoming communication and/orassociated data to the intercom station 260 for communications with thedesignated party 262. This embodiment illustrates the advantage of beingable to internally use the DHCCC 600 for staff to more easily locate andcommunicate with highly mobile on-site staff (e.g., networkadministrators, doctors, car salesman, etc.).

FIG. 7 illustrates a dynamic healthcare contact center (DHCCC) 700similar to the DHCCC 500 disclosed in FIG. 5. However, FIG. 7 includesinteractive, on-site messaging pagers 702 assigned to each designatedparty (not shown). According to this embodiment, the agent receives theincoming communication and any associated data at his/her workstation100, interacts with the individual, determines the status of eachdesignated party, associates the status with the communications profileto select the pager 702, and provides the incoming communication and/orassociated data to the pager 702 for each designated party 262 toaccess. Since the interactive pagers 702 allow the designated party torespond to the incoming communication and/or data, this response can beshared with the other pagers 702 in the group.

FIG. 8 illustrates a dynamic healthcare contact center (DHCCC) 800similar to the DHCCC 200 disclosed in FIG. 2. However, DHCCC 800 furtherincludes a gateway 802, a pager 810, a PDA 812, an on-site, interactivepager 814, and a mobile phone 816. According to this embodiment, theagent receives the incoming communication and any associated data athis/her workstation 100, interacts with the individual to identify thedesignated party 262, determines the status of the designated party 262,associates the status with the communications profile to select one ormore of the communications devices (including the intercom station 260,the pager 810, the PDA 812, the on-site, interactive pager 814, and themobile phone 816) to communicate with, and provides the incomingcommunication and/or associated data to selected communications devices.As discussed above, the communications interface 240 ensures that theincoming communication, associated data, and/or responses are formattedand/or otherwise configured for each of the selected communicationsdevices. Alternatively, the incoming communication and/or associateddata may be routed through firewall 218 to the data network 230 and thegateway 802 to each of the selected communications devices. An advantageof using the gateway 802 is that the gateway 802 may be provided by amanufacturer of the selected communications device for specializedformatting and/or other configuration of the incoming communicationand/or associated data for presentation by the selected communicationsdevice, such as formatting a picture for display by the liquid crystaldisplay (LCD) screen of the PDA 812. Still further, as shown in FIG. 9,the incoming communication, associated data, and/or responses of adynamic healthcare contact center 900 are routed through thetelecommunications network 204 (including the public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN) and mobile switched telephone network (MTSO)). Anadvantage of using the telecommunications network 204 is to leverage theassets of other affiliated data, up-to-date formatting and configurationprograms (including sharing the costs of these systems with othercustomers of the telecommunications network), and increased range ofaccessing off-site staff (e.g., when a staff member is not located atthe healthcare center 250, the transmitter 266 and/or alternatecommunications devices, such as the mobile phone 818, could provide themeans to determine the location, and consequently the status, of thedesignated party).

FIG. 10 illustrates a dynamic healthcare contact center (DHCCC) 1000similar to the DHCCC 200 disclosed in FIG. 2. However, DHCCC 1000further includes a MP3 1002, a digital signal processor 1004, a modem1006, and a global positioning system (GPS) 1008. According to thisembodiment, the agent receives the incoming communication and anyassociated data at his/her workstation 100, interacts with theindividual to identify the designated party 262, determines the statusof the designated party 262, associates the status with thecommunications profile to select one or more of the communicationsdevices (including the intercom station 260, the MP3 1002, the digitalsignal processor 1004, the modem 1006, and the GPS 1008) to communicatewith, and provides the incoming communication and/or associated data toselected communications devices. As discussed above, the communicationsinterface 240 and/or the telecommunications network 204 ensures that theincoming communication, associated data, and/or responses are formattedand/or otherwise configured for each of the selected communicationsdevices. Alternatively, the incoming communication, associated data,and/or responses of a dynamic healthcare contact center 1000 may berouted through firewall 218 to the data network 230 and a gateway (notshown) to each of the selected communications devices. Still further,according to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 11, a dynamic healthcarecontact center 1100 includes an interactive television 1108 forcommunicating the incoming communication, associated data, and/orresponses.

Regardless of the communications device used to communicate the incomingcommunication, associated data, and/or responses, this information mayneed to be formatted accordingly for the receiving communications device(including audio, text (e.g., ASCII), video, other digital formats, andcombination thereof). Accordingly, the DHCCC DataServer 42 (via thecommunications profile) has the intelligence to associate thepresentation capabilities of each of the receiving communicationsdevices described in FIGS. 2-11 and to communicate the incomingcommunication (and associated data and response) to a communicationsinterface (such as communications interface 240 or the gateway 802) forappropriate formatting. For example, if the alternate communicationsdevice uses the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) technique, then theincoming communication and/or associated data are formatted using theWireless Mark-up Language (WML). The Wireless Mark-up Language (WML) andthe WAP technique are known and will not be further described. This is adescription of a solution for a specific wireless protocol, such as WAP.This solution may be clearly extended to other wireless protocol, suchas i-mode, VoiceXML (Voice eXtensible Markup Language), Dual ToneMulti-Frequency (DTMF), and other signaling means.

FIG. 12 is a schematic showing an exemplary operating environment for adynamic healthcare contact center (DHCCC) 1200 that further includes aninterface with an interactive patient services system 1210. The DHCCC1200 has many of the components of FIG. 2 including thetelecommunications network 204, the switch 206, the call managementsystem 208, the telephone/voice workstation 210, the modem 212, theagent workstation 100, the dynamic healthcare contact center application110, the wide area network 214, at least one file server 216, thefirewall 218, the data network 230, the remote personal computer 235,the communications interface 240, the transceiver 245, the healthcarecenter 250, and the intercom station 260. However, DHCCC furtherincludes a patient 1202, a patient signaling personal article 1204, aregistered communications (“Comm”) device 1206, and the interactivepatient services system 1210. The interactive patient services systemallows the patient 1202 to manage healthcare services, such as, forexample, patient services, entertainment services (e.g., movies, games,music, etc.), cafeteria services, travel services (e.g., arranging for ataxi), photo studio services (e.g., pictures of baby), and otherhealthcare center services (e.g., sending a prescription to the pharmacyto be filled, arranging meetings, etc.). The patient may interact withthe interactive patient services systems prior to arrival (sending orinputting a patient profile with the healthcare center) or after arrivalto manage his/her patient profile. While several interactive patientservices are known in the art, none of them allow the patient 1202 toregister for call center services of the healthcare center 250.Accordingly, this invention allows the patient 1202 to use theinteractive patient services to register for DHCCC services by providinga list of communications devices affiliated with a patient (so that theDHCCC application can format and/or otherwise configure incomingcommunications and/or associated data for the communications device),routing addresses of the communications devices such as radio frequencyidentifiers, service node addresses (e.g., telephone numbers), IPaddresses, email addresses, and/or other electronic address information,and times, dates, and/or other schedules for availability of eachcommunications device (e.g., Type of communications device: POTS phone,Address: 504-596-3807, When Available to Answer Phone: 9 AM-5 PM). Oncethe patient provides a registered communications device 1206 (such astelephone 260 shown in FIG. 2, personal computer 302 shown in FIG. 3,pager 810, personal digital assistant (PDA) 812, interactive pager 814,and mobile phone 816 shown in FIG. 8, MP3 1002, digital signal processor1004, modem 1006, and GPS 1008 shown in FIG. 10, and interactivetelevision 1108 shown in FIG. 11), the DHCCC 1200 can communicateincoming communications (and associated data) through communicationsinterface 240 similar to the above embodiments. Alternatively, thepatient may participate in the DHCCC 1200 by using a patient signalingarticle 1204 that transmits signals either to the nearby intercomstation 260 or to the transmitter 245. The patient signaling article1204 may include a variety of configurations, such as, a bracelet,necklace, pin, or other object easily worn on a person. Once the patientelects to participate using the patient signaling personal article 1204,the DHCCC application 110 associates the patient 1202 (including patientprofile and information stored in the interactive patient servicessystem 1210) with the transmitted signals that are used to locate thepatient 1202 and provide availability data and/or location data of thepatient 1202. Similar to the availability data and/or location data ofthe designated part 262, the availability data and/or location data ofthe patient are used to determine the status of the patient. Inaddition, the patient signaling personal article 1204 may furtherinclude an ON/OFF switch that enables or disables the article 1204 fromtransmitting signals. For example, if the patient 1202 turned the switchOFF, then the article 1204 would not transmit signals and the patient1202 could not be located by the article 1204.

Referring now to FIG. 13, a dynamic healthcare contact center (DHCCC)1305 leverages the assets of a telecommunications network provided byPSTN 1325 and a wide area network 1330 to interconnect with remotehealthcare center affiliated sites 1310, a remote authorized user 1315(e.g., a staff member working remotely from home), and other third party1320. Similar to the embodiments described above, the means of couplingthe DHCCC 1305, the affiliated healthcare center sites 1310, the remoteauthorized user 1315, the third party, the PSTN 1325 and the WAN 1330include a variety of means, including optical transmission of electronicdata, wireless transmission of electronic data, and/or fixed-wiretransmission of electronic data (e.g., via a local loop of atelecommunications network to communicate electronic data). Fiber optictechnologies, spectrum multiplexing (such as Dense Wave DivisionMultiplexing), Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet services, and DigitalSubscriber Lines (DSL) are just some examples of the coupling means. Forexample, the DHCCC 1300 may utilize SmartRing, AVVID & Frame Relay, andSS7 VC interconnections. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 204may include Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) componentry that may beprogrammed to control features of the DHCCC 1300, such as locating adesignated party off-site and adding the off-site designated party to agroup conference of the incoming communication, associated data, and/orresponses (e.g., a mobile phone of the designated party could be locatedusing fingerprinting or other techniques in the art, this location couldbe associated with a status, and the agent could process the incomingcommunication according to the status). The signaling between the DHCCC1305, the affiliated healthcare center sites 1310, the remote authorizeduser 1315, the third party, the PSTN 1325 including AIN componentry, andthe WAN 1330 are well understood in by those of ordinary skill the artand will not be further described. Further, those of ordinary skill inthe art will be able to apply the principles of this invention to theirown communications systems including their network configurations whichmay differ substantially from the leveraging the telecommunicationsnetwork (shown as reference numeral 1325 in FIG. 13, and alternatively,as reference numeral 204 in FIGS. 2-11), the WAN (shown as referencenumeral 1330 in FIG. 13, and alternatively, as reference numeral 214 inFIGS. 2-11), and the data network (shown as reference numeral 230 inFIGS. 2-11).

While several exemplary implementations of embodiments of this inventionare described herein, various modifications and alternate embodimentswill occur to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, the DHCCC200 may include wired, optical, and/or wireless components and/or othercomponents (not shown). The DHCCC 200 may use any means of coupling eachof the electronic components for communicating the incomingcommunication and/or associated data, but the coupling means ispreferably high-capacity, high-bandwidth optical transport services,Gigabit Ethernet services, and/or the like. As those of ordinary skillin the art of computer telephony integration understand, the electroniccomponents could also be coupled using other appropriate means, such as,for example a Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) structure withredundant, multiple rings. Copper conductors may also be used.Accordingly, this invention is intended to include those othervariations, modifications, and alternate embodiments that adhere to thespirit and scope of this invention.

1. (cancel)
 2. A method, comprising: receiving an incoming communicationfrom an incoming communications address; querying a database for theincoming communications address; retrieving a patient identifierassociated with the incoming communications address; and retrievingmedical information from the database that is associated with thepatient identifier.
 3. The method according to claim 2, furthercomprising retrieving a profile associated with the incomingcommunications address.
 4. The method according to claim 2, furthercomprising retrieving a profile associated with the patient identifier.5. The method according to claim 2, further comprising retrieving aphysician name associated with the patient identifier.
 6. The methodaccording to claim 2, further comprising retrieving a physician nameassociated with the incoming communications address.
 7. The methodaccording to claim 6, further comprising retrieving a scheduleassociated with the physician name.
 8. The method according to claim 6,further comprising retrieving a communications profile associated withthe physician name.
 9. The method according to claim 8, furthercomprising retrieving a status of a communications device in thecommunications profile.
 10. A system, comprising: a processor executingcode stored in memory that causes the processor to: receive an incomingcommunication from an incoming communications address; query a databasefor the incoming communications address; retrieve a patient identifierassociated with the incoming communications address; and retrievemedical information from the database that is associated with thepatient identifier.
 11. The system according to claim 10, furthercomprising code that causes the processor to retrieve a profileassociated with the incoming communications address.
 12. The systemaccording to claim 10, further comprising code that causes the processorto retrieve a profile associated with the patient identifier.
 13. Thesystem according to claim 10, further comprising code that causes theprocessor to retrieve a physician name associated with the patientidentifier.
 14. The system according to claim 10, further comprisingcode that causes the processor to retrieve a physician name associatedwith the incoming communications address.
 15. The system according toclaim 14, further comprising code that causes the processor to retrievea schedule associated with the physician name.
 16. The system accordingto claim 14, further comprising code that causes the processor toretrieve a communications profile associated with the physician name.17. The system according to claim 16, further comprising code thatcauses the processor to retrieve a status of a communications device inthe communications profile.
 18. A computer readable medium storingprocessor-executable instructions for performing a method, the methodcomprising: receiving an incoming communication from an incomingcommunications address; querying a database for the incomingcommunications address; retrieving a patient identifier associated withthe incoming communications address; and retrieving medical informationfrom the database that is associated with the patient identifier. 19.The computer readable medium according to claim 18, further comprisinginstructions for retrieving a physician name associated with the patientidentifier.
 20. The computer readable medium according to claim 18,further comprising instructions for retrieving a physician nameassociated with the incoming communications address.